Generation Z is strange. I should know, as I am one of its members. Some have referred to us as “generation internet”, “the memer generation”, “the gayest generation”, and of course, “those darn kids''. We cannot refute any of these titles because they are all completely true. (Except the second one. That one came from Facebook, meaning it really invalidates itself.)
So although the word “memer” is one of the worst things I have ever heard, I present you today with none other than a meme.
It’s quite an old meme, which is fitting given the fact that this post was inspired by medieval history. Specifically the man on the front of the medieval history book, The Atlas of the Crusades (depicted below).
As you can see, this man, adorned in crusader garb, is very stylish. I know he is praying, but my mind always perceives it as a dance move. Like dancing, but for prayer. Maybe you know where this is going:
PraiseMoves.
I remember when that picture of one of their programs went viral. I remember finding it very amusing. I never did look into PraiseMoves. But thanks to the medieval knight getting groovy on the atlas, I was blessed (or cursed) with a second chance to learn more.
I don't intend to mock anyone who practices these moves or believes in their power-- I have to admit, the concept is not inherently bad; combining christian prayer and stretching makes sense, as the actions are quite similar. Its just… it’s called PraiseMoves. How can I not make fun of it a little bit?
I will stick to making fun of some of the content on the website. If you practice and enjoy PraiseMoves -- and I mean this genuinely -- then good for you!
This is an actual business, not like Mr. Water from my last deep-dive! Since they desperately want everyone to buy their product, all I had to do to get (almost) all of the info I desired was to visit their website. Here is the video I took of my little investigation. Don’t worry, its nothing crazy, just me scrolling and clicking around their website set to background music.
So yeah. This is very funny.
In addition to the video, I’ll supply some written commentary.
So upon opening the site you see this.
You got a nice, attention-grabbing, urgent message at the top. Very extreme, very sensational. Dare I say… fear mongering? Regardless, it seems a bit odd to say that yoga, by existing, is TRYING TO RUIN Christianity. And then to go on to cite Hindus and yogis. When you just said that their religion/spirituality as it exists is actively trying to “ruin” Christians. Off to an interesting start at least.
In a post on their site, Holly Vicente Robaina -- a friend of the founder I believe -- uses the example of her “buddhist friend” lighting incense as a part of a ceremony to worship her ancestors. She acknowledges that some Christians light candles in remembrance of lost loved ones. Her thesis is that the action of lighting the candle has a different meaning in each case, as the action is separate from the intent. It would not be Christian, according to her, to perform the same ceremony as her buddhist friend with the same, non-christian intent. Simply lighting a candle to honor someone who has passed, however, is a perfectly christian action.
But apply that to the concept of yoga and spirituality and by her logic PraiseMoves is unnecessary because you can separate the action of stretching from the intent to “breathe into a metaphysical plane.” If you don’t intend to worship your ancestors by lighting candles for them, then light away! If you don’t intend to worship other gods while practicing yoga, then surely its fine to practice yoga!
Namaste is a word that possesses a spiritual connotation, but its also just a greeting. Ms. Robaina knows what it means, and acknowledges it -- but her perception of it is completely literal and quite negative. Namaste -- “I acknowledge the holiness/godliness in you.” She believes it implies that all humans are, in a sense gods -- a notion which is not christian. But couldn’t that godliness, that holiness, that divinity simply be the presence of love, faith, any of the virtues imbued by the christian God? Why is it exclusively non-christian?
Several of my Christian classmates in elementary school used it all the time. They found meaning and holiness in it, as did their parents. But that illustrates my point -- that people have different ideas about religion, spirituality, and how to live life. There’s a difference between saying that yoga does not align with your interpretation of your faith, but telling other people that they are experiencing their faiths wrong? Especially when its because you had some weird metaphysical astral-projection trips in a yoga class? (her paraphrased words, as skimmed over in the video).
It also really bothers me that she cites guided meditation as one of the ways kids are being “exposed” to new age spirituality or some such thing. I never knew that meditation was anti-christian! I suppose you learn something new every day.
What does simple meditation have to do with yoga? Since when is meditation strictly and completely spiritual? I’m not a very spiritual person, and I meditate! Sure, one is often encouraged to “feel the energy flow” through one’s body. In my non-spiritual mind, it is not spiritual energy or “life force “in a literal sense; rather, the sense of pulsing and flowing I perceive through my body comes from my heartbeat and the hyper-focused nervous system I have worked so hard to cultivate. Obviously, meditation can also be practiced spiritually; this is simply my non-spiritual perspective. My point is that it is just as easy to detach spirituality from meditation as it is to detach religion from lighting candles.
I understand that she is convinced that the spiritual realm exists, and perceives physical sensation as evidence of spiritual forces. I want to be clear -- that is completely fine. My interpretation of reality is different from hers, but that doesn’t mean that one way is better than the other. But I feel justified in raising the observation that not every person -- christian or otherwise -- is operating from this same interpretation, which makes the article feel a little hollow. Who are you convincing? Not individuals with completely different perceptions, as their minds would not be changed since your argument is irrelevant to them. Not individuals with the same exact perception because they would have already reached the same conclusions. I can only assume that this article is targeted toward people who have different perspectives, but are not so secure in them as to trust them over the article. An article which assures them (on the grounds of someone else’s spirituality) that what they are doing is sinful. It simply seems futile. And as much as I hope that I do not make my readers feel poorly about their own beliefs and practices, I hope that the PraiseMoves article did not feed shame and insecurity in its audience.
This point is one of confusion more than of grievance, specifically regarding Ms. Robaina’s preoccupation with the religious significance of the yoga movements. For example, the pose originally dedicated to the sun god. I assumed that she does not believe in that deity, so why would those movements remain so sinful if (you believe) there is nothing there to worship, and therefore the movements don’t have power?
Please let me know where I’m wrong in the comments. I’m at a loss.
I also want to acknowledge the prevalent citations of hindu leaders and writers. I do not know if or in what way these individuals represent the attitudes of the majority of hindu people. I don’t want to ignore their assertions that yoga is entirely spiritual and that any other form of it is wrong, and I do not want to disrespect anyone’s religion.
Is it brash of me to think that it is not quite right to control how people practice yoga? The balance here between tolerance and possible cultural appropriation is not one I am knowledgeable enough to comment on, but from my own non-religious perspective (worth taking with a grain of salt) it seems a little unfair to make those restrictions on what and who can participate so long as it is not hurtful to you.
Again, the comments are open to friendly debates and insults to my intelligence. Come at me!
In terms of yoga being taught in public schools as mandatory (something I was entirely unaware of until reading the website), I must say that I agree with Ms. Willis (the founder of PraseMoves). Because yoga has religious and spiritual connotations for many people, connotations that should be respected, I see it as rather inconsiderate to have it taught in public schools, according to any interpretation, as a required activity (assuming that this phenomenon does actually occur). If it is optional, it would seem logical to conclude that schools can do whatever they want; in this case kids can just opt out of it.
This isn't a big sticking point for me, and it honestly doesn’t seem like much of a problem in the first place. However, I should make sure I’m representing counter-arguments at least somewhat fairly.
On a different note, I distrust that this is a business profiting off of a market where it frames itself as the only alternative to a popular thing. And that it implies that Christians (a broad category to say the least) should not practice yoga because it is not Christian. Not only not-christian, but decidedly sinful. That is a serious accusation, and surely invokes the sort of decision that each individual should be able to make for themself!
I think this company is also a multi-level marketing scheme. Their business model, whatever it is, is definitely on display; I knew they were that kind of business when I saw an ad for a career offering you the “freedom” to work at home and “flex your entrepreneurial muscles!” (a.k.a. sell their stuff).
PraiseMoves being monetized (monetized exploitatively, if it does operate under a multi-level marketing model) is a little odd to me. It’s not that I don’t believe that people have been helped, or that Ms. Willis is genuine in her efforts, but rather that the way these efforts are actualized is ethically questionable.
But who am I to judge? Do what makes you happy. If PraiseMoves is your jam, and its done with no ill will, then (and I’m sure Ms. Willis would agree) praise away! (Or if you want to use the technical term, be a Fit Witness for Christ.)
UPDATE:
In editing my video, I found something I hadn’t noticed before. Ms. Willis, we need to talk.
Wow. Where to even begin.
I acknowledge that it would be an awful experience to be dismissed as ignorant like this. Its something that many people have experienced and it is never pleasant. I wish it were not so.
But wow. I hope they simply did not realize how icky the implications of their statements are. Firstly, its a little bit hyperbolic to claim to be "persecuted" because you are unfairly and unkindly shut down when giving your viewpoint. I wouldn't take issue with this little hyperbole except for what follows it.
I am gonna have to put this in my blog. Jesus Christ lady.
That was the caption I had in the video. Well, this is what follows it.
“It is a common practice nowadays to classify anyone who embraces a different standard or viewpoint as phobic,” Willis said. “Any logic contrary to our own must be driven by fear. The tactic seems to work. Even the most stalwart detractors are hushed when the threat of being labeled an ignorant sufferer of ‘fill-in-the-blank-phobia’ is in the air. They are hushed for, well, fear.”
I find this comparison disgusting. Though likely unintentional, it is hurtful nonetheless. Let’s see… words ending in “phobic”. Here is a list of the first few examples of these that come to mind:
homophobic
transphobic
xenophobic
islamophobic
“yogaphobic” (according to Ms. Willis)
Do you see how one of these things is not like the other? Do you see how this logic implies also that using the first 4 is “common practice” for people referring to someone “who embraces a different standard” in an effort to threaten them and silence them with fear?
I’m not joking. And I’m not overreacting.
What I took away from the passage was this: labeling people as “something-phobic” is done by people who believe that “any logic contrary to our own must be driven by fear” and call people with different spiritual values “yogaphobes.” They are also part of a sort of trend, as this silly “phobia” calling is, unfortunately, “a common practice nowadays.”
Alright Ms. Willis, maybe some people do need to be called out for their so-called detractions. “Yogaphobes” are not one of those groups, I get it. But are you sure you want to definitively paint individuals using “phobia” terms to be fools?
What about the gay children looking back on a history where you might be burned alive for daring to love someone? Are they wrong to call out homophobia when they see it? Are they wrong to be bitter and frustrated for people who say that they, simply by existing, are committing crimes worthy of death? That they are sinful, dirty, impure, corrupted, beings? Are they wrong to feel hurt every time they hear another “detractor” say that they are going to burn in hell? Is it not true that, in this case, they are the ones being persecuted, not the ones doing the persecuting? Do you understand how ironic it is that you claimed to be oh-so-persecuted nary a paragraph ago?
Now what about transgender teens? Are they wrong to use “the threat of being labelled an ignorant sufferer of” transphobia? Is that threat justified when it applies to the kids that killed a trans boy that other week? Is it an accurate description for the people that make their lives a living hell? The people that go out of their way to drill into their heads that they are wrong, ill, insane, stupid, attention-seeking, trend-chasing, broken people? Is transphobia an appropriately serious thing to call out, or is it just another “fill-in-the-blank phobia” -- one that has forced countless beautiful children and adults to the realization that the only thing more scary or painful than dying is their own, continued life?
And I could go on. And on. And. On.
What I have described are not “fill-in-the-blank phobias”. They are not dismissive statements within bad-faith arguments. They are thousands of young lives wasted. They are hundreds of people stoned, beaten, burned, cut, shot, and tortured to death. Compared to these people, you. are. not. persecuted. Your experiences are valid. They are really disappointing. And I’m sorry you have had to endure them. But if we’re comparing your idea of a phobia to mine, we might as well do the same with our definitions of “persecution.” And boy, is it obvious that they are not the same.
Special thanks:
Ms. Laura Willis for creating this concept. It brings me (and many
others) much joy, and the world would be duller had I never discovered PraiseMoves. So
thank you. Namaste.